A/N: Ah! Minna! Gomenesai! I was bitten by this because of a doodle comic I saw on DA and the fact that Silva and I are working on several One Piece fics at the moment. Have no fear, you Bleach fans, we are still working on Bleach, and I've not abandoned it in favor of One Piece. I'm a Polyamorist! I enjoying being with ALL of my loves! Hee hee hee. So, anyway, enjoy some fluffy, slightly sexy ZoSan, with hints of FrankRo, LuNa, UsoKay. Ja ne! X3

"Oi! Marimo…"

The cook's voice out of nowhere wasn't exactly startling, but it certainly didn't helping him keep track of the number he was on. It wasn't hard to ignore though, as the swordsman lowered himself once again on one finger, using the railing of the upper deck as a platform. He was balanced upside down and every five hundred reps or so he'd switch hands so that both arms were being used equally. It would do him no good if one side became dominant over the other. Santoryuu was all about balance, and in order to maintain balance one had to—

"OI! Shithead marimo! I'm talking to you!"

He forced himself not to growl just barely, and started the count over again. To maintain balance one had to listen to the way the world breathed. In and out, up and down. Inhale up, exhale down. Working with gravity and fighting against it. To hear the world breathing one's breath had to be focused. One had to be completely—

"OI!" The shout just barely preceded the flying roundhouse aimed at his head.

When the whistle of the wind across the cuff of the cook's pantleg was just at the right place, Zoro jumped from his one finger, back-flipping over the attack to land with the balls of his feet on the railing, like a large cat. He glared deeply, his burning onyx orbs focused on the downturn in Sanji's mouth around the ever-present cancer stick.

"Son of a—"

The cook didn't finish his sentence because the next thing he knew, the feline-like swordsman had drawn Wadou Ichimonji and was advancing on him like a man possessed. The pits of the nine hells burned in his eyes, and a feral grin on his lips. They backed, striking blow for blow against one another, across the upper deck. Zoro swung wide, Sanji lept over it and front rolled into a handstand that brought both heels slamming into the precious steel before using the momentum of the motion to fly up over the marimo's head.

To the casual observer the spar could have been considered a fight to the death, though both men knew that each was holding back, not even offering a token of their true strength. To the assorted nakama on the lawn deck below, however, it was just the cook and the swordsman being themselves as they did every day. The three oldest members glanced up at the duo at different times, each wondering when it was going to finally come to a head and sort itself out. The navigator and the sniper had a bet going as to see which one would crack first; if this was any indication, the slender female was winning. The doctor was completely confused, because where he came from such things were uncomplicated and simply chalked the whole experience up to the fact that none of the humans on board the Thousand Sunny could smell things as well as he could. The only one apparently unaware of the tension between the other two thirds of his trio was the captain, but the archeologist didn't quite believe the enthusiastic man's affected ignorance. It just seemed to her to be a little too naïve.

A painful shout from above brought the entire crew whipping around to see the cook sprawled out at the top of the stairs, the white blade's tip next to his ear and a minute sheen of crimson on the sharp-as-razors edge. The cut wasn't deep, but it ran along the blonde's cheekbone, right under his exposed eye.

"You motherfucker, that hurt! What gives?!" He exclaimed.

Zoro said nothing as he flicked Wadou to rid her of the cook's blood. He gave the sword the mental promise to get her a thorough bath later as he sheathed her next to her brothers. Then he turned and climbed back up onto the railing to return to his previous task.

"You know, bitch ass, I'm talking to you!"

Apparently, he wasn't going to get to continue his training. So he bent over to grab his shirt. It also seemed as though, in spite of his drawing blood and sheathing his sword, the cook wasn't finished with him, as that deadly heel came crashing around in an attempt to splinter his backbone. It actually jarred his shoulder when he caught it on his arm, and his eyes trailed up the leg that seemed to go on forever, then followed the lines of the lithe chef's body all the way up to that cigarette hanging from his lips again. But no further.

"Holy Hell, Marimo. What does it take for you to look at me?!" The blonde yanked his foot back and made to swing the other one around to connect with the swordsman's head.

"Nothing." He said simply, brushing off the second attack by ducking under it to gather his things.

Then he disappeared into his cabin, grateful that in the two years they'd been apart, Franky had thought to give them each their own rooms. Sure, it meant that there was a new level built onto the two that were already there, but it gave the swordsman a place to meditate when he wasn't on watch without worrying that the rest of the crew would either need him or disturb him.

Out on deck, Sanji was slack-jawed. 'Nothing' the marimo had said. Did that mean he'd never look the cook in the eyes because he wasn't worth it anymore? Or was it that he felt Sanji was above him and was ashamed? Maybe it had been part of the rigorous training he'd undergone with Mihawk. Or maybe…the cook swallowed harsly, thankful that the others on deck seemed to have gone back to their previous tasks now that the tension had been dismissed with the first mate's exit. A slightly panicked blue eye swept across those that were his closest friends, and he swallowed loudly again. Maybe his time spent there had rubbed off on him, and the swordsman could tell that for all his protesting there had been several points where it hadn't been that bad to be there. Maybe it was because Zoro was disgusted by him. He rarely talked around him anymore. Their fights had begun to be almost constantly like this one had been, where Sanji was seeking the mosshead out, picking the fight and seemingly losing because the first mate walked away with nary a bruise or sheen of sweat. He concluded he really must be weaker than he thought, and that Zoro was absolutely revolted by the thought of him. With that in mind, he slunk off to the kitchen, attempting not to make too big of a deal about his latest ass-handing as he went about their chores for the rest of the day.

If any aboard the ship were hoping for a quiet uneventful day, they were sorely disappointed, because just before the sun reached its zenith, Usopp, who was on watch in the crow's nest, shrieked, "MARINES!"

Immediately after that the first volley of cannonballs exploded off the port bow, and Luffy was laughing crazily as he inflated himself to bounce them back towards the attacking ship. Franky took his stance in front of the mast, as a living cannon with his Coup De Vent firing short, heavy shots straight through the pretty blue and white sails. From the open window in the crow's nest, Usopp joined in, loosing Fire Bird Stars through the tattered holes Franky was making. Zoro and Sanji both emerged from their refuges to cover the aft of the ship, slicing, chopping, kicking and just generally removing the threat of attack from behind while Nami and Chopper changed the Sunny's course to get out of range. All in all, with the help of a Gomu-Gomu-no-Gatling and a burst from the cola engine, getting away from the marines took most of the afternoon.

When they finally did, Sanji spent another forty-five minutes dressing up what had been for lunch so he could serve it for dinner. Having done so, the ravenous crew descended on his presentation like a pack of wild dogs, with a few exceptions. The blonde's previous line of thought had been held back until the green-haired swordsman entered the galley. Then his hand flew to his mouth, pink dusting his cheeks. He whipped around quickly, so that none of the others could see, though they all did anyway.

"Sanji, are you ok?" The little doctor put a hoof on the taller man's thigh.

The cook forced a dazzling smile, and covered the motion of his hand with his cigarette. "Of course, Chopper. Go eat. The salad tonight has violet, dandelion, lilac, and mikan flowers in it courtesy of Robin-chan for your superb steering skills this afternoon."

"Ah! That doesn't make me happy at all, asshole!" The reindeer squealed, a grin on his face and splotches of blush on both his cheeks and the insides of his ears as he wiggled back and forth.

Sanji rolled his eyes and took a deep drag on his cigarette with a fond smile.

"YOSH! SANJI! MEAT!" Luffy cried out and the smile was forcibly stolen from his lips as fast as it came.

His heel spun down, pinning the rubber man's hand to the table. "WAIT YOUR TURN!" He instantly recovered when Robin and Nami took their places, noodling over to them with their plates. "Robin-chwan~! Nami-swan~! Your portions, made with extra love and care."

He was still bowing over the girls' dinner when the swordsman came up behind him with a gruff, "Out the way, shitty ero-cook."

The blonde spun with a scathing insult on his lips, but catching that Zoro was glaring off to his left with his arms crossed over his chest brought everything back a third time, causing whatever vile words he'd been planning to die, unspoken, in his throat. Instead, he merely chewed on the end of his cigarette and stalked away to take up his own plate.

Brook entertained Luffy long enough that everyone around the table had a decent fill. Then people trickled out, leaving Usopp and Chopper to handle washing up the dishes. Sanji supervised, of course, because he didn't trust a single one of them in his kitchen alone, but from his vantage point, he saw just how quickly the marimo fled the galley before the others. It made his heart ache fiercely, and reminding himself that the mosshead had first watch that night did nothing to ease the tension creeping across his shoulders.

"Oi." He called softly, lighting a new cigarette. When both the sniper and the doctor turned to him, he glared down at them both, "Break anything, and you'll be on hard tack and water for a month. Ne?"

"H-h-h-hai, S-Sanji!" The chorused, the color draining from their faces and clinging to each other for dear life.

Satisfied that he'd been able to scare the Holy Ghost into the pair, the blonde did what none thought he'd ever do; exited the galley, leaving the reindeer and the liar to wash the dishes alone. They turned to one another, eyes wide, knees shaking.

"You don't suppose he's gonna…" Chopper started.

Usopp tried to affect a laugh, only it came out betraying his nerves. "N-no, he's just getting a smoke…r-right?"

"Uh…"

As one the pair looked at the door to the galley and shivered violently.

Outside, Sanji did, indeed, suck deeply on his cigarette, relishing the way the smoke filled his lungs, and the nicotine flooded his veins. He closed his eyes for a moment and just existed, listening to the sound of the ocean against the Sunny's hull, tasting the salt on the air as it mixed with his addiction, and letting the cool moonlight soothe the heat that had clung to his skin since early that morning when he'd realized the marimo was ignoring him. For a few moments, until the roll of tobacco burned down to the filter, the cook was at peace. Then the cigarette was gone, and the very real presence of the swordsman, flowing through his evening katas weighed heavily on the back of the blonde's senses until he was all the lithe man could think about.

His blood boiling once again, Sanji decided that tonight he was going to find out why. He stalked down to the lawn deck, where, besides the marimo obsessing with his swords as usual, Brook sat casually off to the side tuning his violin, Franky was tinkering with the steering column where it'd been nicked by a stray piece of cannonball earlier, Robin was playing assistant to the cyborg with an adorable smile on her face, Nami and Luffy, for once, were quiet, and sitting on the lion's head watching the stars come out because the navigator mistakenly thought the flower petal-mane hid the pair's cuddling from view. Ignoring all of that the blonde strode directly into the swordsman's movement, catching the snowy blade with the sole of his shoe.

He wasn't looking at the green-haired man though. His face was angled away, and his entire body was defensive. So, the irritation at having his nightly ritual disrupted fizzled out before Zoro could even truly muster up a decent glare. Instead, he just watched the blonde calmly light yet another cigarette, following every movement with his eyes, catching every subtle shift of fabric, or twitch of muscle, the way the breeze stirred the top most strands of the cook's hair, the play of the moonlight across what little pale skin peeked out from the edges of the lithe man's suit, and the long, long, long lines that fully created the downright gorgeous figure standing in front of him.

Silence stretched between them, and vaguely Zoro became aware that all other sounds on the ship had faded away as well. The only two things that filtered through were the push and pull of the ocean and the gentle burn of Sanji's cancer stick.

After what felt like forever, the cook finally spoke, in barely audible tones. "Why don't you ever look at me anymore, Marimo?"

Zoro blinked. Then he swallowed, hard, looking away just as the blonde looked at him for an answer. "I look at you."

"Not eye to eye." The words burned across his skin.

"No. Not eye to eye." He echoed.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Not good enough, shithead." Sanji pressed against Wadou's edge with his toes, forcing the swordsman to take a step back or risk his precious blade being damaged. "Why?"

Tension weighed heavily across his shoulders, he couldn't help the way his stomach sank at being pressured, and though he tried to keep up the gruff façade it was bending under the blonde's will like poorly forged metal. For now, he said nothing, instead, taking another step back.

Murmurs filtered from around them for a moment, until a soft voice and the tinkle of cherry blossoms silenced them with a disembodied hand sprouting from each of their shoulders to cover their mouths. "Seis Fleur."

Sanji filled the silence again, pressing a third time against Wadou. "Why! Marimo! WHY?!" The steel groaned under his pressure, "Am I that disgusting to you? You think you're that far above me?! Can you not stand the idea that I may have enjoyed some of my time among the Okamas?!"

A muffled gasp ran through the rest of the crew, but the pair in the center of the lawn deck took no notice of them, as Zoro pushed back against the cook's foot. "NO!"

"Then why, Marimo!? Why do you hate me!?"

"I DON'T HATE YOU, IDIOT COOK! I LOVE YOU!"

And suddenly, Robin no longer needed to hold anyone's mouth shut, not that she had the concentration to do so anymore, as everyone's jaw hit the floor, including Sanji's. In his astonishment, his foot fell, letting Zoro step closer. The quiet kiss of steel against steel was absently registered as the swordsman sheathed his most prized treasure. Then he took his hand, and brushed the silken gold from the cook's face, following through the motion to cup Sanji's chin with fingers so gentle they seemed surreal. He was staring into the other's eyes now, endless pools of vast ocean as clear as a summer day, and just as prone to clouding up with violent storms.

"Truth is, ero-cook, I can't look you in the eye because two years of not having your eyes to look into made me realize how much I was addicted to doing it. I could get lost your eyes, baka. You don't need to look for the All-Blue." The thickly calloused fingers drew down the blonde's face again, his thumb tracing the scabbed over line where Wadou had kissed the alabaster skin that morning. "You carry it with you, and every time I see it, you drown me."

"I…I…I…"

Sanji's tongue didn't want to work with him. Hell, his brain wasn't even sure what was going on. All he knew was that at that moment, Zoro's body heat was overwhelming, and somehow, those simple touches were making him go weak at the knees. And then, with no warning, that scorching presence was devouring his mouth, and his eyes were rolling back into his head. Outside of his command, the cook's arms wrapped around the first mate's neck, and the larger man's other strong hand pressed against the small of his back, bringing their bodies flush together from chest to hips.

Suddenly, he knew what Zoro meant by drowning in another person, because Sanji was no longer certain which way was up and which was down, whether they were still on deck or had somehow fallen through it, melting the ship with their combined body heat. All he could legitimately process was that apparently wielding a sword in one's mouth not only provided exceptional oral training, it left tiny, sensitive callouses to either side of one's cheeks that helped to trap and devour anyone who dared attempt to plunder the burning cavern.

When they came up for air, what felt like an eternity later for Sanji, the crew was cheering with varying degrees of volume. The cook immediately blushed, and tried to pull away, but the silk-wrapped-steel cage that was the swordsman's embrace wouldn't let him. A wave of embarrassment and nerves washed over him, and he peered up into the smoldering coal of Zoro's eyes.

"Don't you dare." The swordsman's voice was hard, and tension made his arms quiver.

Sanji placed a hand on one trembling bicep, realization dawning across his face. "That's why you never said anything. You thought I'd turn you down."

Zoro had to fight not to get lost in the sea of blue that caught him once more. "Why wouldn't you, ero-cook? You love your ladies, but if you're going to, let me have just this moment more."

"Now who's the baka, aho-kenshin!" The blonde frowned, though his scowl held no more heat than his words. "I'm not so easy as to let just anyone kiss me like that!" The blonde gripped the swordsman tighter. "You started this, you can't back out now."

Brook took up his violin, drawing the bow softly across the strings in a sweet, gentle melody, as Zoro smiled broadly, capturing Sanji's lips in another kiss. At that, Chopper pulled his hat down over his eyes and grabbed Usopp's hand, pulling the sniper back into the galley. The curly-haired liar let him, a sad smile curling the corner of his mouth. As soon as the door closed, he drew a locket from within his shirt, popping it open to stare longingly at the picture of the sweetly smiling girl contained within. On the lion head, Nami wrapped her arms around Luffy's neck, bringing the captain's grinning face back around to face the stars so she could rest her head against his shoulder. And with his back to the new couple, Franky just cocked an eyebrow up at the lady that made his cola bubble with a silent curl to the corner of his mouth. She responded with her own subtle smile, one of her disembodied hands offering him the wrench he needed to keep working.

The sound of the cyborg shipwright's tinkering played a counter rhythm to the song the musician used to settle the air of peace across the Thousand Sunny as she sailed gently under a blanket of diamond dust. No matter what tomorrow would throw at them, the Mugiwara pirates would face it with confidence knowing that the ones they cared about most were standing back to back with them.

Omake!

Nami: YOSH! Usopp! Pay up!

Usopp: *jaw drops* WHAT?! Zoro caved first, you said you were certain Sanji would break first.

Nami: *sly grin* Sanji provoked him by constantly picking at him these last few days.

Usopp: EXACTLY! If Sanji hadn't been pushing him, Zoro would have held out longer!

Nami: But Sanji was giving in by simply provoking him. *still smug*

Brook: Mah, Lady Nami, our gentleman cook is always provoking our swordsman. Were that to be counted as part of the bet I fear the challenge would have been over long before I even joined the crew. At least that's how it looks to me, though I have no eyes to see. Yohohoho.

Luffy: SKULL JOKE! *throwing both hands up in the air*

Nami: *cloud of depression over her head*

Usopp: So, HA! Pay up, Nami! *smug air* I, CAP-TAI~N U~SOPP, have won the bet!

Nami: *grins, beri in her eyes and a sharp-toothed grin on her face* How about double or nothing that Sanji tops?

Usopp: Eh...I g-*suddenly flies across the deck to crash into the mast, two identical bumps on his head*

Zoro & Sanji: WE CAN HEAR YOU, TEME! *storm off towards the private quarters together*

Nami: *as soon as they're gone* So...double or nothin'?

Usopp: *thumbs up* Hai!